Educational information, not financial advice or a personal recommendation. Not regulated by the FCA. Do your own research. Capital at risk.
Sterling AlmanacExploreStart hereFind your fitGlossaryCompareMy ListMy PieEarnings calendarSupport

RELX PLC (REL.L)

Industrials Out of favour

Ever read a scientific paper or looked up legal case notes? Chances are, this quietly massive British information titan helped power the search.

£26.07
≈ 2,607p · London-listed shares are usually quoted in pence (GBX) elsewhere; the Almanac shows pounds (£1 = 100p).

Is RELX PLC a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Ever read a scientific paper or looked up legal case notes? Chances are, this quietly massive British information titan helped power the search.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-29.0%
52-week range-31% past year
£26.07
Low £19.91High £39.38
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into RELX PLC
£710-29%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£45.52B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
5.13M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£26.00 – £26.47
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£19.91 – £39.38
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
20.9
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
2.6%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.26
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.26
Calm
Wild
Steadier than most

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +7% past week · ▼ -31% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

dominant data monopolies cement their place in global decision-making workflows

The bear case

open-access research movements permanently erode database profitability

What does RELX PLC do?

This company provides data, analytical tools and digital decision support to professionals, researchers, and scientists worldwide, making its money largely through subscription software and database access. It operates behind the scenes in legal, medical, and academic fields, charging recurring fees for essential information tools. A key watch-point for anyone studying the business is how successfully it blends its traditional publishing roots with modern artificial intelligence tools to keep customers paying.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and growth, and weakest on value.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 23Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 65Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 52Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 27Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 51
Quick checks
What's strong
  • deeply entrenched subscription business model
  • very high return on equity indicating strong efficiency
  • essential databases relied upon daily by legal and scientific professionals
What to watch
  • Value screens low (23/100)
  • Momentum screens low (27/100)
  • increasing pressure from open-access academic publishing initiatives
  • potential disruption from advanced free artificial intelligence search tools
  • broader economic slowdowns squeezing corporate research and legal budgets

What do RELX PLC's numbers mean?

P/E
22.3
Investors are currently paying about 22 times the company's past annual earnings for its shares.
Gross margin
66.3%
For every pound of revenue brought in, over sixty-six pence remains after covering the direct costs of delivery.
Dividend yield
2.8%
The proportion of the share price paid back to investors each year as cash dividends, based on recent payouts.

Does RELX PLC pay a dividend?

Yes - RELX PLC currently pays a dividend of about 2.6% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

More in Industrials

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.GE VernovaGlobal Payments Inc.Delta Air LinesVertiv Holdings CoHowmet Aerospace Inc.EMCOR Group, Inc.Southwest Airlines Co.
Appears in
Big UK shares, explained

What are the scenarios for RELX PLC?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£36£26£18today · £26▲ Bull · £30• Base · £26▼ Bear · £21in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+10% to +20%market sentiment stabilises after a tough previous year
Base
-5% to +5%steady subscription renewals with modest revenue gains
Bear
-15% to -25%broader market pressures weigh heavily on professional software valuations

What are the pros and cons of RELX PLC?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • deeply entrenched subscription business model
  • very high return on equity indicating strong efficiency
  • essential databases relied upon daily by legal and scientific professionals
The catch3
  • high price-to-book ratio reflects a pricey asset base
  • recent revenue growth has been relatively modest
  • faced with a steep 12-month share price decline
Key risks3
  • increasing pressure from open-access academic publishing initiatives
  • potential disruption from advanced free artificial intelligence search tools
  • broader economic slowdowns squeezing corporate research and legal budgets
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
Found this useful? The Almanac is free and ad-free - a coffee keeps it that way.Support →

Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.